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An Investigation Of Non-Spatial Cognitive Abilities In An Asocial Corvid, The Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga Columbiana), Jan K. Tornick
An Investigation Of Non-Spatial Cognitive Abilities In An Asocial Corvid, The Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga Columbiana), Jan K. Tornick
Doctoral Dissertations
A great deal of research suggests that the cognitive abilities of birds in the family Corvidae (crows and jays) are comparable in many aspects to that of apes. Scientists have posited competing hypotheses to explain how complex cognitive abilities arise in a species or group of animals. One such hypothesis, the social-intelligence hypothesis, states that the demands of living in a large, dynamic group drive an animal's need for complex cognitive skills. The ecological-intelligence hypothesis, predicts that generalist foragers develop more highly flexible behaviors and a wider cognitive repertoire than specialist foragers. To date, cognitive research on corvids has focused …
Anxious Lives: Tracing The Life Course Of A Medical Diagnosis Through Illness Narratives, Jennifer J. Esala
Anxious Lives: Tracing The Life Course Of A Medical Diagnosis Through Illness Narratives, Jennifer J. Esala
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation is a study of medical diagnosis, specifically anxiety disorder diagnosis, from the perspective and through the narratives of people who have been diagnosed. In this study, I address two core research questions. First, how does social materiality (e.g., bodies and objects) contribute to, shape, and lend empirical understanding to the experience of an anxiety disorder and the experience of illness in general? Second, how does medical diagnosis translate from the medical institution into the lives of people who have been diagnosed, and how do those diagnoses transform in and through the social lives of people? To address these …
Essays On The Economics Of Municipal And Household Solid Waste Disposal And Recycling, Christopher Wright
Essays On The Economics Of Municipal And Household Solid Waste Disposal And Recycling, Christopher Wright
Doctoral Dissertations
The sustained increase of municipal solid waste generation is an ongoing management and environmental challenge confronting many local governmental units in the United States. The management problems associated with municipal solid waste generation are attributed to rising levels of solid waste, and the real costs to collect, transport, and dispose solid waste is increasing. The increase in landfill disposal costs, referred to as "tipping-fees", is partially attributed to the regulatory and technological requirements of landfill operations designed to reduce pollution from landfills. In response to these challenges, municipal solid waste managers are evaluating the benefits and costs of alternative programs …
Examining Celestial Polarization With The Gamma Ray Polarimeter Experiment (Grape), Taylor Pyne Connor
Examining Celestial Polarization With The Gamma Ray Polarimeter Experiment (Grape), Taylor Pyne Connor
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation describes the development of the Gamma Ray Polarimeter Experiment (GRAPE), which is designed to measure the polarization of astronomical sources from 50 keV to 500 keV, and presents the Crab observation results from the successful 2011 balloon campaign. The successful balloon flight of this instrument took place on September 23rd and 24th, at Fort Sumner, New Mexico (Flight N624). The instrument was at float altitude for twenty-six hours. The Crab Nebula/Pulsar, Cygnus X-1, and the Sun were observed within the collimated field of view of GRAPE. A polarization fraction of 55.3% +/- 35.6% and a polarization position angle …
Observation Of High Iron Charge States In Solar Energetic Particle Events, Zhangbo Guo
Observation Of High Iron Charge States In Solar Energetic Particle Events, Zhangbo Guo
Doctoral Dissertations
The ionic charge states of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events provide direct information about the source plasma and the acceleration environment. In this thesis, we mainly build on charge state observation of SEP events during late 1997 to 2000 with from Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA) on board Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). We concentrate our effort on the high QFe (≥14) found in the SEP events, and discuss the physical principles of how these elevated charge states are produced. We statistically confirmed the energy dependent charge states found in impulsive SEP events and showed impulsive SEPs are consistent …
Essays On Motor Fuel Taxation And Price Dynamics In The European Union, Aliya Sassi
Essays On Motor Fuel Taxation And Price Dynamics In The European Union, Aliya Sassi
Doctoral Dissertations
When the economic literature refers to characteristics of the motor fuel market in the EU, one has to be cautious in comparing indicators across time and space because of the ongoing enlargement of the Union. This dissertation contributes to a limited empirical literature on motor fuel fiscal competition and discussions on fuel tourism and fiscal policy coordination in Europe. The first essay provides an overview of the EU market from 1994 to 2010 for four major motor fuels and its evolution at every stage of EU expansion. It examines changes in the characteristics and taxation rates of the EU representative …
An Empirical Investigation: How Small To Mid-Sized Enterprises Use Innovation On The Path Toward Ecological Sustainability, Shelley F. Mitchell
An Empirical Investigation: How Small To Mid-Sized Enterprises Use Innovation On The Path Toward Ecological Sustainability, Shelley F. Mitchell
Doctoral Dissertations
Dependence upon the natural environment is redefining the business relationship between ecological, economic, and social systems. In addition, the major market forces of diminishing natural resources, extreme transparency, and increasing social expectations are reshaping a new sustainability path for companies. This empirical investigation explored the phenomenon of sustainability in small to mid-sized enterprises, focusing on the link between innovation and ecological sustainability. In addressing the research questions, an Eco-Sustainability Conceptual Framework was developed and applied to a sample of small to mid-sized enterprises. In addition, the development and use of an Eco-Scorecard helped to identify key performance indicators for measuring …
Perpendicular Ion Heating By Low-Frequency Alfven-Wave Turbulence, Qian Xia
Perpendicular Ion Heating By Low-Frequency Alfven-Wave Turbulence, Qian Xia
Doctoral Dissertations
Determining the mechanisms that heat the solar corona is a fundamental problem in heliospheric physics. One of the proposed models is based on low-frequency Alfven waves (o << O i) launched from the coronal base. Theoretical studies and numerical simulations have shown that Alfven-wave low-beta turbulence primarily cascades to smaller scales perpendicular to the mean magnetic field rather than smaller parallel scales, where beta = 8pip/B 2 is the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic pressure. Because of this, the wave frequencies at small scales remain small compared to the proton cyclotron frequency. In this work, we study the possibility of ion heating by this low-frequency Alfven-wave turbulence in a reduced magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) simulation. In a low-beta plasma, when an ion's gyroradius is comparable to the wave length in the perpendicular direction, the ion undergoes a random walk in the time-varying electrostatic potential. When the fluctuation amplitude exceeds a certain threshold, this stochastic mechanism provides ion heating in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field lines. We evaluate the stochastic heating rate as a function of the amplitude of the turbulence and compare our findings to previous theoretical results.
Nonideality In High Concentration Solutions, Ronald Toth
Nonideality In High Concentration Solutions, Ronald Toth
Doctoral Dissertations
Our current understanding of molecular interactions, the kinetics, equilibria, and thermodynamics of biochemical reactions, is based mostly on research conducted in dilute solutions. Recent interest in the implications of true physiological concentrations has led to the development of new tools and techniques. In vivo biological systems differ so significantly from dilute solutions that a model is required to conceptualize them. The excluded volume theory is one such model. In this framework macromolecules are regarded as hard spherical volumes, holding only the property of size, and not those of shape or charge. Alternatively, the proximity energy framework considers molecules as having …
Undergraduate Latinas' Self-Definition Of Academic Success, Carla Machado Rodrigues
Undergraduate Latinas' Self-Definition Of Academic Success, Carla Machado Rodrigues
Master's Theses and Capstones
This master's level thesis's objective was to gain a better understanding of how a sample of 13 undergraduate Latinas who graduated high school and immediately enrolled into college define academic success. Through interviews, these undergraduate Latinas explain where these self-definitions came from, mentors that may have influenced these definitions, and if their ethnicity and gender has played any role in the way they perceive academic success. The study also considers findings from previous research regarding academic resilience factors associated with Latinas, such as: being involved in college ready initiatives, obtaining academic support from significant others, having mentors, receiving various messages …
Internet Use And Sense Of Community Among Rural Adolescents, Rebecca Benson
Internet Use And Sense Of Community Among Rural Adolescents, Rebecca Benson
Master's Theses and Capstones
There is currently a debate about the way Internet use affects community outcomes. Some suggest positive effects while others propose negative effects. The current study seeks to add to this discussion by using two waves of data to examine how frequency and type of Internet use affect sense of community in a sample of rural youth. Competing hypotheses are posed---Internet use will increase sense of community and Internet use will decrease sense of community. Using data from the Rural Youth Study, results indicate mixed effects of Internet use on sense of community dimensions, community attachment, support and emotional connection with …
Under Supreme Court Review: An Evaluation Of The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, 1994-2005, Matthew C. Coker
Under Supreme Court Review: An Evaluation Of The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, 1994-2005, Matthew C. Coker
Master's Theses and Capstones
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is one of the most controversial courts in the United States due, in large part, to its high rate of reversal by the United States Supreme Court. The existing scholarship advances several potential explanations for the Ninth Circuit's reversal rate, particularly the Ninth Circuit's reputation as a very liberal court. This study evaluates the Ninth Circuit cases reviewed by the Supreme Court during the 1994-2004 terms to determine whether there are explanatory patterns to the Supreme Court's disposition of cases from the Ninth Circuit over time. Examining the effects of …
A New Model Of Procedural Justice: Legal Legitimacy, Legal Cynicism, And Satisfaction With Government Officials, Lindsey R. Phelan
A New Model Of Procedural Justice: Legal Legitimacy, Legal Cynicism, And Satisfaction With Government Officials, Lindsey R. Phelan
Master's Theses and Capstones
The alternative model of legal socialization proposes that legal legitimacy and legal cynicism mediate the relation between procedural justice and rule-violating behavior (Triter, 2012). In contrast, the direct model of procedural justice proposes that procedural justice predicts satisfaction with government (Tyler, 1988). The current study tested these models using secondary analysis of data collected in Eastern and Western Europe during the 1990s. The present study tested two competing hypotheses: legitimacy and cynicism would mediate the relation between procedural justice and satisfaction with government officials (alternative model) and procedural justice would predict satisfaction (direct model). Results indicated that procedural justice predicted …